We now come to Part 25 of our list of 2014′s Most Infectious Extreme Metal Songs. For more details about what this list is all about and how it was compiled, read the introductory post via this link. For the other songs we’ve previously named to the list, go here.

I could go on at length about both of the songs I’m adding to the list today, because to me the way in which each song is constructed and the musical ingredients the bands folded into them make the songs as interesting as they are catchy — and they are both very catchy. But I’ll hold my verbiage to a minimum and let the music speak for itself.

MACHINE HEAD

A lot of bands would have been quite happy to end “Now We Die” at about the three-and-a-half minute mark, and it would have been a fine, hard-rocking, heavy-grooved piece of business without anything more. But this is Machine Head and of course they weren’t about to stop.

And so we also get the song’s most massively headbangable segment, a really excellent extended guitar solo, a soft clean-sung interlude that builds in intensity, and one final burst of ass-kicking groove.

And the video that was made for the song — what an extravagant smorgasbord of freaky images. It’s as if someone thought to themselves, “We’ve got a fat budget, and by god we’re going to spend every fucking dime of it!”

I refer you to DGR’sreview of The Singularity (Phase One: Neohumanity), because I sure as hell am not going to reprint the entire, almost endless tome. If you consult his write-up, you will see that his favorite songs on the album are probably “Neuromancers” and the immensely satisfying closer “Technocalyptic Cybergeddon”.

I can’t say I disagree with those sentiments. Those probably are the two best and most interesting songs on the album. But I don’t think they’re the most infectious, and that’s what this list is about. I think that honor goes to “Limits To Infinity” — even DGR called it “insanely catchy”. He wrote that the song includes “a chorus line and keyboard section straight out of an 80′s nu-wave prog band”. I’d go further back than that. I hear that chorus and the name Yes comes to mind, very happily.

To me, “Limits To Infinity” is just a joy to hear, and definitely belongs on this list

“A lot of bands would have been quite happy to end “Now We Die” at about the three-and-a-half minute mark… but Machine Head decided to stretch it out interminably, due to their continuing belief that making a song LONGER somehow makes it BETTER…”

There, I fixed that for you.

Seriously though, it’s not a bad song by any stretch of the imagination, but it overstays its welcome by at least a couple of minutes, like pretty much ALL current-era Machine Head songs do.

I respect the band’s attempt to try and “do a Metallica” to some extent, but they definitely need to consider editing down to their strengths, rather than just trying to make every single song another pseudo-Master of Puppets.

I’m more of the mind that MH need to edit down their albums, more than the songs themselves. “Now We Die”, like most of the songs on this one (a massive step up from Unto the Locust) are good by themselves, but the album should definitely have been a good 2-4 songs shorter. And Now We Die has a kickass riff going for it as well.

I’m kinda surprised to see Machine Head in all honesty… but I’m glad to see it. I pretty much bought the album off the strength of Now We Die. I’d never watched the video before, and concur with your assessment – fuckload of money. I’ve seen smashing guitars before, but throwing bass drums?